Annabeth

Percy arrives to pick Lilly up at 4 o'clock. When I open the door to him I find him leaning against the wooden frame with a tired smile on his lips. A warmth that I once forgot existed pools in my stomach and I greet him with my own smile.

"Hi," he says, straightening up to his full height.

"Hey. Come on in," I reply and let him slip past me.

"How's Lilly?" he asks, once I close the door behind him.

"She had a temperature but a bit of medicine and soup has sure helped. She's running around upstairs with the boys," I explain. "Do you want to stay for a while or are you leaving right away?"

"I'll stay for a while longer, if that's okay with you," he says.

"I'll make us a drink. You drink coffee, right? One sugar, a little milk?" I ask. He nods and I realise how weird I must sound, knowing how he likes his coffee.

We walk into the kitchen and he takes a seat on one of the stools, resting his elbows on the counter in front of him, while I fill the kettle with water and heat it up. "Thank you so much for taking care of her. I really hope I didn't disturb you," Percy says.

I lean against the counter opposite him.

"It was fine, really. Shopping is my worst nightmare, so you got me out of it. I'll just either have to force myself to shop tomorrow or wear something in my wardrobe to my interview on Thursday," I reply.

"You have a job interview? That's so great. You could wear a garbage bag and still they'd give you the job," Percy says sincerely.

"Thanks," I mutter shyly, my eyes meeting his. I swallow hard as neither of us make an effort to look away. The kettle makes a beeping sound that tells me its ready and I break eye contact with him so I can pour water into our mugs.

I take our drinks over to the counter and he thanks me as I climb on to the stool next to him and then take a sip of my hot drink. "So," Percy starts. "I had a little chat with Lilly the other day."

"That's funny. We also had a very eventful chat just a small while ago," I grin.

"Is that so?" Percy grins back. I nod and take another sip of my drink. "What do you think about what she said?"

"Well, she's very wise. What she said does kind of make sense. It sounds like a nice little dream that she has come up with," I admit.

"It doesn't have to be a dream," Percy replies in a quiet voice.

"I know. I'm just worried about what others would think," I say.

"Would you stop thinking about other people and think of just yourself for a minute?" Percy asks.

"It's hard to do that when you have kids. I want them to be happy," I say.

"They are not going to be happy unless you are happy, Annabeth. If Jess or the boys were sad, would you be happy? No. So what makes you think it will be different if you were sad? They love you. They want to see you live," Percy almost whispers.

"I'm scared. I don't want a repeat of what happened with Luke," I whisper, staring at the wall ahead of me.

"I wouldn't allow that to happen, Annabeth. I could never treat you like he did," Percy replies and I know he's telling the truth. He would never hurt me. He rests a hand on top of mine and I turn to face him. "Trust me. I said I would wait for you and I will. I'm right here waiting until you are ready."

"Thank you," is all I feel I can say.

I lower my head and rest my forehead against his shoulder. I feel him kiss my hair and I close my eyes as I think of other things those lips can do. A powerful hunger sparks inside the pit of my stomach and I look back up, into his eyes. Then he is leaning forward, pressing his lips against mine, and my hands are on his chest, on his shoulders, in his hair.

If the kids weren't upstairs this would probably lead to my bedroom, or maybe we wouldn't even reach it… but the kids are here. I can't allow this to go far, unfortunately. Still, I enjoy it while I can, and kiss him back with as much passion as he puts in.

"I love you," Percy whispers against my lips, pausing his attack only for a second.

"Ditto," I whisper back and then his lips are all over my face; on my cheeks, my chin, my jaw, and then he attacks my neck.

We hear a cough, and just like that, Percy and I break apart. I turn in my seat and find Jess standing in the doorway, Liam beside her, looking alarmed. We didn't even hear them arrive home, we were that lost in each other. I feel my cheeks heat up and I clear my throat and run my fingers through my hair to try and look normal.

I jump off my stool and smile at them. "Hi, guys. Sorry about that," I say as nonchalantly as I can. Liam smiles awkwardly at me, as Jess seems to not know what to do.

"Nothing like finding your mom making out in your kitchen," I hear her mumble and I can't help the snort that flies from my throat. Percy starts laughing and in seconds we are like howling hyenas.

Percy nearly falls from his seat as he tries to calm himself. He clears his throat and presses his lips together to stop himself from laughing. Then, he stalks over to Liam and offers him his hand. Liam shakes it. "I'm Percy, Annabeth's friend," Percy introduces himself.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Liam, Jess's friend," the boy replies, looking at Jess out of the corner of his eye with a smirk.

"It's not often you see friends standing as close as you two," Percy says, looking from Jess to Liam.

"Well, I must say the same thing about what Jess and I walked in on. I've never seen two friends have their lips so close together."

Percy looks over his shoulder at me and mouths, "I like this kid."

"Daddy!" Lilly squeals as we hear her run downstairs. She squishes past Jess and Liam and dives into her father's open arms.

"Hey, flower," Percy greets, kissing his daughters cheek.

"I missed you," Lilly admits.

"I missed you, too. But did you have fun with Annie?" Percy asks.

"Yes! We watched a movie and she made me soup to make me feel better again. She's like a magical fairy. Will you marry her now?" Lilly asks in as loud a voice as she can.

Percy coughs. "Uh - not right this second, no," Percy stutters out.

"But one day?" Lilly begs.

"Maybe. Run along now and get your things. It's time to go," Percy orders. Lilly's little legs take her from the room and Percy turns to face me.

"We better go but thanks for having us here. It's been great," he says.

"Come over anytime," I reply.

"I will now that you've made the suggestion," he grins.

"Oh, will you two stop with the loved up eyes?" Jess huffs. "It's making my stomach turn."

"You can't talk, dear. Have you noticed the way you look at Liam?" I ask, watching as her face turns pink.

"Come on," she tells her crush, already walking out of the room. "We'll do our homework in the living room."

I turn back to Percy and smile widely at him. He wraps his arms around me and presses a kiss to my cheek before stepping away, just as Lilly barges into the room. "I have all my things," she announces.

"Then, let's go, baby girl!" Percy winks at me. I follow them into the hallway and watch as they walk down the pathway, calling goodbye to me. I watch them drive down the street and close the door once they are out of sight.

I lean against the wooden door, a smile spread across my lips.